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HOPS

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DaveM956

We found several vines of hops this fall while outdoors. I harvested a 5 gal pail of them, brought them home and dried them. My question is does anyone have a good method of identifying them. Is there a method of determining the alpha acid? They have a great aroma once I dried them. Is the best method just making a batch and see how it turns out?
 
My friends that grow hops typically use them in the final 20 mins and later, and as dry hops, and rely on a known purchased hop for the bittering.  Even if you knew they were Cascade, and you had cultivated them carefully, the AA% would vary year-to-year.  An unknown hop, grown wild is anyone's guess.  Enjoy your find!
 
The only hop I know how to ID is Cascade. They are unique in one aspect, the lupulin forms small yellow balls inside the cone, and a second, but less likely way to identify Cascade is by the slightly squarishness you see if looking at them from the bottom.

 
    I was able to get a hold of two differant kind of hops growing wild, so I just took them to my local home brewer shop to see if they could tell me what they were and they told me one was Willamette and the other was Cascade.
If you have a home brew shop close to you, they might be able to help you.
stevemwazup.
 
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